j's scratchpad

06/03/05, posted by j

Jessica Baumgart
Harvard University’s Office of News and Public Affairs
j’s scratchpad
Special Libraries Association 2005 Annual Conference Continuing Education Course Blogging for News

Introduction to Blogs and Feeds
Sunday, June 5, 2005
blog post pointing to this story
Liz Donovan’s presentation
Follow-up notes

This presentation is on the Web at: http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/jkbaumga/stories/storyReader$3640.

Tucows generously donated some of their Blogware blogs for us to use during the course.

The World as a Blog

My experience with blogging: I’ve been blogging since April 2003 and now contribute to thirty blogs, most of which are public, collaborative blogs. The blogs run on six platforms: Manila, Blogger, TypePad, Blogware, and Frassle. This blog runs on Manila. You are looking at an item in the stories section, a place usually reserved for longer posts. The front page of my blog is elsewhere.

Librarians should care about blogs for at least two big reasons: blogs are a great communication tool for both internal and external purposes and blogs are sources of information.

I. What is a weblog?

• Definitions vary

• Blog software enables easy updating of Web pages, bloggers don’t necessarily have to know HTML
• There are many different kinds of blogs, different kinds of platforms for blogging
• Can blog on the Web, on an intranet, etc.

II. How do People Use Blogs?

• Why blog:
  • Communication
  • Knowledge management
  • Annotated list of links
  • Networking, fostering community
  • Sharing sources
  • Easy to archive and retrieve material
• Why read blogs
  • News

  • Professional development
    • ResourceShelf

    • beSpacific
    • NewsliBlog
  • Be/stay informed
  • Get someone else’s personal perspective, view of the world
  • Time management
    • Portals and KM

III. What Libraries, News Libraries, Journalists, and News Organizations are doing with Blogs

• Libraries
  • Inform library users
    • The Olin Library has a blog, which appears on the library’s homepage

    • Rowland Institute Library Blog
    • Park Library News
  • Communication tool among staff members
    • Need2Know: Current information for staff of the Business Information Desk, RMIT University Library
  • Reach out to the company’s clients
    • The Christian Science Monitory’s Liblog

    • MassLive hosts weblogs and points to local bloggers
  • more blogs
  • Library Weblogs takes a scholarly look at fifty-five library blogs.
• News Libraries/Librarians
  • Some internal blogging, but not too much

  • External blogs are easier for us to find
    • Tel-Lib-Blog Telegram & Gazette in Worcester, Massachusetts

    • Infomaniac: WeBlog from Liz Donovan of the Miami Herald

  • Derek Willis’ The Scoop

• Journalists
  • Romenesko at Poynter

  • Bob Stepno, a journalism professor at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville
  • Subterranean Homepage News by Sheila Lennon of the Providence Journal
  • Dave Barry at the Miami Herald
  • Dan Gillmor
  • Regret the Error
  • Newsdesigner.com
  • Neiman Reports’ Fall 2003 issue (.pdf) focuses on weblogs and journalism

IV. Feeds and Aggregators

• Many blogs and Web sites distribute content using a feed
  • Examples: this blog, news sources, comic strips, buoys, weather, etc.
• Two kinds of feeds: RSS and Atom
  • Differences
• Aggregators read feeds
• Many kinds of aggregators
  • Desktop

  • Web-based
    • My Manila aggregator

    • A Frassle aggregator
    • Bloglines
• The difference between reading a feed and a site
• Can route feeds to Web sites
• Enclosures: send files via feeds
  • Podcasting

  • Video blogging or vlogging
• Learn more about RSS
  • An Introduction to RSS Feeds

  • My Feeds department
  • RSS Feed bibliography
• Learn more about aggregators
  • Review of aggregators for the PC

  • Review of Mac aggregators
  • List of aggregators via Wikipedia

V. How to Find Blogs and Feeds

• Some general Internet search engines
  • For a specific feed, try looking for the title and add feeds or RSS or a similar term to the search query.
• Special search engines targeted toward blogs and feeds
  • Feedster

  • Technorati
  • Daypop
  • Share Your OPML
• Directories
  • Blogwise’s list of blogs

  • Open Directory Project’s list of LIS weblogs
• Professional colleagues
• Other blogs
  • Blogrolls

  • Several sources say Business Blog Consulting is a good place to find business blogs
  • LIS Feeds (feeds from sources about library and information science)
• Create a feed for something without one
  • Bug the content creators until they get a feed

  • Write your own script
  • Third-party solutions
    • Feed Burner

    • Many others
  • Keep copyright and licensing issues in mind

VI. How to Start Blogging

• Think about what you want to blog/need from a blog and select appropriate software for the task.
  • This is not necessarily easy. It’s similar to picking library automation software or an archiving system.
  • Blog platforms may be similar, but they aren’t the same.
  • More details about picking blog software
• Take some time to really learn about the system you choose.
• Find out your support options: discussion list, superusers, help desk, etc.
• Market your blog
• Start casting those bottles into the ocean (I’m being figurative here. I’m not advocating for pollution.)

VII. Collaborative Blogging

• Multiple people can contribute to a blog

• Works well for projects with multiple contributors
• Like all group projects, people need buy-in and encouragement

VIII. Blogging on Multiple Blogs

• What goes where?

• Posting the same item in multiple places
• Managing multiple blogs

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